


Rat forgets how to be a medic

by Lagran7m



Category: The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-28 22:42:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17191643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lagran7m/pseuds/Lagran7m
Summary: In which Rat Kiley has suddenly frozen in his place when his partner Curt Lemon suffers from a minor injury while in Vietnam.Or in which they end up having a moment for themselves where they can enjoy the company of the other.





	Rat forgets how to be a medic

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to post this so the fellow Curt/Rat shippers feel less alone.  
> Did you read Rat calling Curt his soulmate? Yeah, I just absolutely had to write them a little something.  
> Hope it turned out enjoyable enough!  
> Thank you very much for reading!

Literally, what in hell was happening to Rat Kiley?  
Back when the idiot of Tim O'Brien had been at the receiving end of a bullet, he had been able to manage the situation perfectly. He had been totally calm and collected, even joking around his platoon mate in an attempt to relax him. He did that, he managed to fix the man up and now he was as good as new. Or least as good as it could get during 'Nam. So... why was it that now, as Curt was bleeding from a bad cut in front of him, his body was going through a total shutdown? He couldn't have that, he knew that, yet his eyes were fixed on the bleeding wound and his hands frozen on the small box full of medical equipment without either of them ever moving.  
"Rat." the voice of the man before him broke the silence, silence that had fallen between the two since Dave Jensen had brought the injured boy to the first aid 'station' to get him patched up. Still, just the mention of his name wasn't enough to get the doctor of the platoon out of his trance. "Rat, are you there?" The voice insisted, but this time a gentle hand shook the young man's shoulder slightly. This soft movement seemed to work, making Rat immediately start shaking his head up and down in a frenetic manner.  
"Yes! The first aid kit, I got this." The reply came with determination in its tone, almost disguising the nervousness that was shaking the poor nurse's body.  
Kiley failed to open the box on the first try, his actions clumsy and only worrying his partner even more. He was so obviously agitated; looking at the medical supplies for a few moments after the kit was actually opened as if he had forgotten all training done all of a sudden. Just what had gotten into him? Curt knew he was smart and capable, so why, why, was it that he dropped the bottle of water as soon as he grabbed it out? Why did Rat struggle to open the thing as if he'd suddenly grown weaker? Why were his hands shaking as he attempted to pour water on the wound?  
Shall Curt even mention that he failed miserably?  
"Oh shit. Fuck." The medic grunted with furrowed brows.  
Nope, he definitely noticed that, at least. Nevertheless, Curt definitely had to say something because otherwise their current situation would go on for god knows how much longer.  
"Hey, Rat-"  
"Fuck. I'm sorry. God dammit. I’m sorry, man."  
His shaking hand attempted to clean the wound once again, yet the only thing that got touched by water were the clothes the tanned man was wearing.  
“Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll just… ahh, fuck.” Kiley moved to look for a cloth to dry the pants of his pal but, as he went to dab on the area, a gentle hand settled on top of his own.  
“Stop, that’s not gonna work.”

Rat Kiley, for the first time since they’d been left alone, looked up to meet his gaze. For a few seconds, it seemed he was going to listen and finally start working on healing the cut, but then the boy shook his head and tried to dab the clothes dry, again.

“Damn it, Rat, quit it. Don’t be stupid.” Curt took a hold of both of his wrists this time, stopping any attempts Rat made at breaking free and struggle out of his grab. “Stop that, it’s fine. It’s just water, man, I don’t give a shit about it, come on.”

“Fuck, no, let me just-”

“No, shut up.” Lemon spoke with a serious voice, making Kiley stop fighting back and look at him, his wide eyes shocked at the words of his comrade. “Stop it…It’s just water” The injured man said with a much softer, much tender voice. “It’s fine, buddy. It’s fine.”

“But I… God damn it…”

“No. No… It’s all right, man. It’s cool.”

“What the- It is not cool! Fucking hell, Curt… you’re bleeding.”

“Then, cure me,” sentenced the soldier, letting go of Kiley’s wrists slowly yet never looking away from his big, round eyes. “You can do it, you know how to.”

Rat stared back for a moment, trying his best to believe the words that were leaving Curt’s mouth. A sigh escaped his thin lips and young Lemon was tempted to pull him in for a kiss right then and there but decided against it. It was not what Kiley needed for the moment, he could get the kiss later.

“…Yeah. You’re right.” The medic sounded relieved and calmer now, nodding slightly before taking a deep breath. “I can do it.”

This time, when the bottle of water approached his skin, the wound burnt a little when the transparent liquid finally hit it in a crystalline cascade.  
Curt tried to hide his reaction yet feeling the water warmed up by the heat of Vietnam on his recent cut made him wince for a second.

“I’m sorry,” Rat apologised upon seeing his expression, “It’s just to get the dirt out, I’ve gotta.”

“I know, I know. It’s fine” Lemon offered him a small smile to encourage him to continue. “No backing down now, right, doctor?”

“You idiot, shut up.”

The two of them laughed a bit before silence fell between them once more.

“Curt… I’ve got to remove the glass.” Rat sounded serious, which only lead to Lemon’s brows furrowing in confusion. 

“Yeah, I figured as much. Just do it then”

“No, you idiot,” He replied with a grimace on his face. Pain? Disgust? Fear? Uneasiness or anxiety? The injured man did not know for sure until the medic spoke again. “The glass is… sort of keeping the blood in, y’know,” he pauses for a while, giving the impression that he’s trying to picture what it would look like in a couple of seconds, “It’s going to bleed, man, it’s going to bleed a lot.”

Oh. The weird grimace made sense to him, all at once. It was going to bleed and it was definitely going to hurt, a lot. Saying he wasn’t afraid would be straight out lying but he knew he couldn’t throw Kiley back into his spiral of panic; it would be bad for the both of them and especially for his leg.

“That’s unavoidable then, isn’t it? Just do it, man. I can take it.”

That hadn’t been enough to calm the wide eyed boy, it seemed, since he looked at Lemon with unsure eyes. 

“Come on, man. I’m strong, aren’t I?” Curt rolled up his left sleeve in a messy yet quickly way and proceeded to flex his arm with a playful smile on his face. “I’ll take it, see?” He raised his eyebrows and gave himself a few pats on his biceps. “Come on now, man, I can handle it, you know that.”

“All right, shut the hell up, you dumbass.” Rat rolled his eyes, obviously flustered by the man’s actions and wishing he’d stop. “Stay fucking still, you hear me? Interfere with my work and I’ll personally break your other leg, got it?”

“Sure.” Curt laughed and leaned his head back on the three he had been sitting up against, relaxing before the moment came where the pain would inevitably increase; or wanting to relax at least.

“Breathe in deeply and hold it,” came the instructions from the trained paramedic, “Once I touch it and move it it’s going to hurt, so let the air out slowly, y’understand?” Curt nodded in understanding and covered his eyes with his arm, knowing he’d ineluctably flinch in pain without a doubt. He didn’t want Rat to see him recoil when being attended by him, it would only discourage him further and that was not a scene Curt was willing to witness again. “One,” Curt closed his eyes, “Two,” He inhaled profoundly and felt himself frowning in advance before- “Three.”

Although the glass piece wasn’t quite big per se, it had apparently been incrusted quite deep into his leg, the tanned man realised. It hurt way more than he had anticipated and he wasn’t able to hold back small grunts in reaction to the slow, slow removal of the damned object. Breathe out slowly, he reminded himself, just like Rat said. He could endure it; he could take the pain for a few seconds. He was strong, he was a man, he was tough, he was-

“Done.”

“Holy shit I actually did it.”

Kiley immediately looked at him with an expression that was a mixture of disbelief and pure anger.

“You fu-”

“Hey,” Curt interrupted with a hand up in the air as if calming down a wild beast – and honestly a mad Rat wasn’t so far from that – “Hey… It’s okay, man.”

“It’s not.”

“It is! Look, you got the glass out,” Young Lemon smiled while pointing at the transparent piece still in between Rat’s fingers, “You did it.”

“God, just shut up,” Rat sentenced as he forcefully threw the little piece of broken glass as far away as possible from them. “Just… shut up, damn it.” The 19 year old sighed as he massaged the bridge of his nose, not looking quite stressed but more like… sad?

Taken aback by the sudden change in his platoon mate, Curt watched in silence as Rat took out sterile gauze from the medical kit to then cut it in many pieces. He stayed quiet as well, or as quiet as he could, when the gauze was pressed against the open wound on his leg, merely groaning lightly due to the cut only now beginning to bleed.  
What made him worry was how he watched Rat’s mouth twitching hardly noticeably, trembling as his gaze was focused on stopping the bleeding. More like pretending to be focused on it, Lemon thought. After so many years, it had become too easy to read what the other young man was thinking, and in that moment it had become apparent to Curt that his partner was experiencing an insistent fright.

“Don’t tell me… you were afraid because of this stupid cut?” he laughed a bit, trying to get Kiley to laugh with him and stop thinking too much about the little accident, “I won’t die because of some silly glass in my leg, man.”

“You could have.” 

All right, so that didn’t work. It looked like cheering the nurse up would be harder than expected. 

“Hey… What kind of nonsense are you talking about?” he inquired with a short laugh of disbelief, “It’s just a cut on my leg, man, at the worst it may just leave a scar or somethin’.”

Rat looked away towards a total opposite direction of where Curt was sitting. He appeared to be troubled or thinking too hard about something that was difficult to guess, and it was only when he started speaking again that it finally became clear what had been going on inside his mind all that time.

“On each of a person’s legs, almost right at the middle… There are these huge arteries and veins.” Rat paused and tightened his lips for a split second before looking down, “The femoral artery and femoral vein, y’know. They... are quite important, I guess. They…. You see, they, uh…Fuck, Curt, they’re huge and hold a lot of blood in them, understand?”

Ah, so that’s what it was? All of that weird behaviour suddenly made sense, resulting in a rush of guilt flowing through the poor injured soldier’s body. He had to mend it all up, soon. Having his medic feeling that way was not an option anymore, not when he could fix it.

“You are so cute when you’re spouting medical nonsense, you know that?” Curt smiled, extending his right hand to try to take hold of one of Kiley’s.

“Ugh, shut up,” grunted Rat while pushing his boyfriend’s hand away, “Not the mood for your bullshit.” 

Curt laughed. “ ‘s not bullshit, I mean it,” the man grinned even more, trying again to hold Rat’s hand and this time succeeding. He refused to look back at him, though, still staring at something far away from them both. “Listen, I’m sorry. I should have been more careful while walking down the hill. I should have known. I was stupid.” 

“You were.” Rat locked eyes with those blue orbs that looked at him in pain, guilt and sadness. It hurt having Lemon injured but that look on his face was actually worse. “No, it wasn’t your fault.” He sighed and tightened his lips. “I should have been quicker to react, I’m sorry.”

“No, hey,” Curt called, intertwining their fingers with gentleness, “You did it. It must have been terrifying with all that veins and arteries thing going on but… You’ve patched me up now. You’re a great doctor.”

“I hope so,” Rat pressed his forehead against Curt’s knee and sighed deeply, “Had you died for a fucking piece of glass, man… I would have-”

“Oh, come on. It going to take you more than just glass to get rid of me.” The man laughed at the thought, thinking it was all too damn silly. Rat didn’t laugh along.

“Seriously, I’m… Had something happened to you, I… Man, I would have…”

“But nothing happened,” Curt insisted, “Look at me, pal, I’m fine.”

Rat sighed, nodding while still pressing his temple against Curt’s knee and then closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. “Yeah. Yeah, I know, it’s just I… I can’t lose you.”  
“Hey…” Curt frowned in worry, “Stop that, stop that right now, shut up.” He pulled Rat away from his bent leg with a single arm and brought him right next to him.

“Wai- Stop! Let go, you idiot, it’s still bleeding!” Kiley tried to set himself free by twisting himself nonstop, but the tanned boy had a strong grip on his waist; making it pretty much impossible, “Let go! I’m not done with you yet, dumbass!”

“Let it bleed, I don’t give a shit.” Curt sighed, not loosening his grip one bit, “It’s not that bad, really. Just come here, I wanna hold you.”

Rat stopped struggling. “…What?”

“I just wanna hold you, all right? Won’t you let me?”

Lemon’s voice sounded so… tired. Why? So out of the blue. 

“Yeah.” Kiley couldn’t bring himself to argue any longer when the other soldier sounded like that. They were both so tired; maybe resting like that for a while would do them good. “Yeah, of course.”

So, he sat better against Curt’s side and let the man hug him by the waist. He heard a sigh of contentment leave young Lemon’s mouth, feeling him relax more and stay quiet afterwards. For a few moments, all they would hear was the sounds of nature. It was as hot as ever in Vietnam, with the exception of a gentle breeze that relieved them from the heat a little. Rat, slowly, let himself melt under the tender embrace until his head was resting on Curt’s shoulders and none of them said anything about it. Rat closed his eyes. Rat forgot the whole falling down the hill and getting hurt thing. Rat let himself feel at ease while being held with such strong confidence that he was sure his heart was beating differently. Rat’s heart was beating with fondness. Rat finally allowed himself calm down and be cherished.  
How long had it been since they last had the chance to simply sit together like that? Too long, he thought, he had almost forgotten what being cuddled by his boyfriend felt like. It was even better than he remembered.

“Man,” Curt broke the silence, “When was the last time we just… cuddled like this?”

“What the fuck, did you read my mind?” Rat made quite the funny grimace, yet he didn’t move.

“What?” the other man laughed amused, “The hell are you on about now?”

“Nothing, nevermind.” Rat gave up and simply moved his face closer to Curt’s neck. 

“Sure thing, babe.”

“Shut up.”

Silence reigned again between the two even if a lot of words needed to be spoken at that moment because neither of them knew where to begin. They missed being alone like that and missed being able to show their devotion for each other. But what could they do about it? They were stuck in that stupid land of pain and conflict for who knows how long. Whining about it wouldn’t change it, so they might as well keep their mouths shut. Maybe words weren’t as needed as they had thought. They both knew what the other was feeling, after all, because they were feeling the same.

“I love you.” Rat broke the silence in a low voice, “Don’t you dare scare me like that again.”

“I won’t, I’ll be in my best behaviour,” Curt laughed, “We’ll get through this together, all right? The two of us.” 

The medic closed his eyes when he felt a pair of lips press gently against his forehead.

“And?” He urged then.

“And… I love you back.”

Rat smiled and hid his face from the other soldier, too embarrassed to say anything back for a bit.  
“So, uh…” He not-so-smoothly tried to change the subject, “Any other injuries I missed? Does anywhere else hurt?”

“Yes, actually.”

The nurse eyed him in panic.

“What? Where?”

“My lips.”

Curt almost punched himself after saying that because Rat looked at him with what had to be the biggest expression of all disgust, disbelief and disappointment at once.

“Curt…”

“Y-Yeah?”

“I’m going to stab you with the glass piece again.”

“Well that’s not ideal,” Curt giggled. He did not want that at all, but he was going risk it to get that kiss, “Come on, we’re alone now. Kiss me better?”

“Hmmm.”

The thing was, in Rat’s defence, that Curt had the sweetest smile in the world at that moment. Curt was looking at him with the softest eyes ever; silently pleading for that stupid kiss. How could he resist that?

“Ugh, come here, you idiot.” Rat guided the man with a hand on his cheek before making their mouths meet in a mild kiss. That shit-eating grin Curt had in response? Totally worth it.

Their mouths moved together in quiet synchrony, slow-moving lips brushing against each other as if softly trying to embrace the other. No other gesture was necessary, they both knew that they had missed and needed it; the loving touch filling them with strength and hope like no other thing could ever do. It might have been such a small move, but their heart beating together told them that it was exactly what their whole beings were longing for.  
The war was intense, and so were their feelings. Yet, sometimes, a little break from the terrific reality they lived in could help repair their broken souls; temporarily, at last.  
So Rat kissed him and Curt kissed him back, holding on to each other with a passion and desperation only known to those that went through more than they could ever tell. They kissed, they embraced the other, they hoped silently for more peaceful moments like that, and they prayed – to whoever or whatever was out there – that they would not have to say goodbye too soon.

Rat pulled back with a gasp, but it wasn’t because of not having enough air to keep going. It was because, for a bit, the world that they had forcefully been engulfed in became too much to bear. Curt seemed to understand, moving his fingers in a careful caress against the skin of his nape where his hair ended. Not a word was pronounced for a while, merely pressing their foreheads together and feeling the presence of the other as a way of calming down their racing pulses.  
The first to speak was Rat.

“Curt, I… I, uh… Fuck it, just…know that I love you. I love you so much.”

The reply came without hesitation.

“I love you too, honeybee.” 

Rat smiled the happiest and sweetest smile then, giving Curt a peck on his nose before shifting in his place so that they would be cuddling again against the tree. Both men sighed in relief, their thoughts still a wild mess of insecurity and doubt but wanting to believe they could get through anything as long as they were together. As long as they had each other’s back, they could do it. Whatever it was, they could do it. If hope existed, holding a brighter future for them, then they would cling to that hope and keep it close to them until the day arrived where they could, and would, smile once more without a worry on their minds.

“It may sting for a little, not gonna lie,” The medic spoke, shifting the conversation back to the wound, “So... since you won’t let me bandage it up yet, think there’s anything else I can do to make it better?”

Curt contemplated the possibilities, but there was one idea that instantly won against the others.

“Well… you could show me your amazing dance skills again.”

That earned him a hit on the ribs with Rat’s elbow.

“Shut it, I’m gonna pull another one of your teeth out, I swear.” 

“Come on, man, dance for me.”

“No, fuck off.”

“Not even a little? Some shakes of your hips? Back when Kiowa taught you the rain dance, I-”

“Dude, shut the fuck up or I swear to god I’m going back with the guys right now and leaving you here to rot or whatever.”

“…But you shake your hips so well, man.”

And so, the sun started to set on the horizon, splashing wonderful shades of orange and purple on the sky and just in the slightest on the two young men sitting at the shade of the trees. With the light bathing them in shining dust, the soldiers exchanged the same feelings of love without having to express them out loud. Just like that, another day in Vietnam was slowly coming to an end, but the hope of better days gave the two of them strength to keep going for a little more. They could do it, if it meant they would someday be allowed to live their lives together in blissful peace they could do it. They would do it. As long as their hearts beat together, they were tough enough to pull through anything.

⚪ ⚪ ⚪

That is... 𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 as they had each other.


End file.
